Legal Environment assignment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legal Environment assignment - Case Study Example The defense has challenged the application of subsection (4) (c) and (5) (c), and has justified the action of the defendant for non-submission of the documents as per the injunctions of subsection (3). The counsel of the defendant referred to the decision of the district judge, and focused upon the true and legitimate interpretation of the subsection (6) (b), the submission of the defendant stated that 'It is a defense for the defendant to prove that he has a reasonable excuse for not providing a document within three days of the interview'. The legal issues in the case have been the raised and addressed. It was observed that two subsections have been taken as assumption with reference to the false immigration document submitted during the journey. If the defendant is able to justify his non-submission of the document, his actions can be regarded as legal by virtue of the provisions of subsection (7) (b) (iii), as per which 'the defendant had handed the false passport that he had used to his facilitator in circumstances where it would have been unreasonable to expect non-compliance with his instructions to do so'. As per the district judge, the subsection (3) and (6) (b) are applicable on the immigration document which has been in the possession of the defendant during his journey, however the subsection is not applicable provided that it has been proven that the immigration documents never existed. The claim ca neb verified through revision of the official records of the Immigration Department. Such issue further procl aimed that 'it was not open to the appellant to rely upon the fact that he had been unable to provide a genuine immigration document within three days of his interview'. However, the district judge has contended that the application of the two subsections is legal, and the subsections can be referred to during the discussion of the contentious issues related to the false immigration document. However, the appellant's alternative case has been disqualified, because 'he had not demonstrated that it was unreasonable to expect him not to comply with his facilitator's instructions to return the false passport'. The defendant has claimed that the mention of adverbial in the subsection signified that 'only relevant provision of subsection (3) shall be submitted within three days', thus providing exemption to the defendant. Which technique(s) of statutory interpretation do you consider that the Lord Chief Justice employed in the case Give reasons for your answers. According to the Chief Justice the subsection (4) (d) is related to the situation when the defense is implicated for the submission of the false documents, therefore the application of the subsection (3) has been declared as restricted, whereas the defense is obliged to submit his documents within three days of his interview. According to the judge, the application of the subsection (4) (d) is justified provided that the false documents are submitted by the immigrant after the charges are levied against him, therefore the conviction under section 2 is not possible until the period of three

Acadia University Marketing analysis and suggestion Essay

Acadia University Marketing analysis and suggestion - Essay Example media networks such as blogs, online video sharing, podcasts, microblogging and virtual worlds have eventually become tools for public relations (Thulasiraman, He & Hu, 2007). Social Media is has also become an essential marketing tool for universities. Universities have had a number of challenges including decreased funding from governments, declining enrolment and increased competition. Since the university is a very wide marketplace, Acadia University will utilize the social media to advertise its courses and dates of enrollment. This is a cost effective marketing tool that will ensure the University reaches more than one billion users of social media across the globe at a very low cost. The international market for university education is a good opportunity for Acadia University. This is because the international market has the advantage of improving the levels of enrollment and revenues for the institution. Some of the key regions and countries that represent the international market for Acadia include India, Europe and Asia. India is considered to be the country with the highest population in the world. This is a good market for University because it presents a market with high levels of enrollment (Hunt, Bromage & Tomkinson, 2006). The university will also be able to attract international students from Asia and Europe given the fact that the two regions put much emphasis on education especially overseas education. The other opportunity within the international market is the ability of international students to pay higher fees in time. This will boost revenues for Acadia University and the money will be used in the expansion of the institution to cater for the expected increase in student enrollment (Wise, Vault Editors & Hauser, 2007). Education remains a key sector in the growth of any economy and as such the government is ready to offer assistance to the education sector. In most cases, government assistance comes in form of grants and incentives. The

Business Communication Essay Example for Free

Business Communication Essay A good rate of ideas are exchanged between departments †¢ It encourages good communication between different departments †¢ Having group discussions allows a wide range of ideas from different experts to be considered †¢ The more ideas the more chance they will hit upon a great one The main disadvantages of horizontal communication are as follows: †¢ Due to the fact both departments may be of equal powers decisions are hard to come to †¢ Nobody has the overall say and final decision It can cause in-house fighting if differing opinions boil over †¢ One department may always have to check with another department before pushing anything through Advantages/Importance of upward communication: 1. Feedback: The major advantages of upward communication are, it provides feedback from the employees. As a result the communication loop (cycle) completes and management can realize the reactions of the employees. 2. Constructive idea: Upward communication allows the employees to inform their views regarding the implementation of company policies. 3. Helps decision making: Through upward communication top management can know the views of flower level employees which help them to make more realistic decision. 4. Establishment of good relation: Upward communication brings executives and employees close to each other and accordingly mutual relationship developed. 5. Mutual trust: For the success of any sort of communication trust is an essential element. As relationship developed through upward communication mutual trust also created. 6. Enhance coordination: Opportunity to express own views and participation in the decision making enhance the level of coordination. 7. Motivation: The task of motivation needs two way communications between the concerned parties. Upward communication enables the executives to extend appropriate motivational measures. Disadvantages/Limitations of upward communication: 1. Reluctance: In some cases employees are reluctant to provide information through upward channel. 2. Non-cooperative attitude: Non-cooperative attitude to the executives damage the willingness of the employees to initiate upward communication. 3. Chance of distortion: Downward communication can be distorted unconsciously but in case of upward communication information can be distorted deliberately. . Trend to by-pass: Another side effect of upward communication is tendency of by passing the immediate boss, can be created among the employees. 5. Delay: Sometimes lower level employees hesitate to inform a problem upward because doing so means acceptance of failure. Thus delays may take place to decide whether to inform the top management or try further to solve the problem. advantages 1. increases efficiency 2. its appropriate for giving instructions 3. ensures that everyone is working towards goals and objectives disadvantages 1. info can be distorted as it goes down 2. nformation overload 3. lack of openness between managers and employees a. Contents of diagonal communication: This type of communication is common in tactical situations which require the quick transfer of information or advice; in hostage situations or cases of civil unrest, it is probably imperative. Diagonal communication is usually verbal and thus is conducted by telephone or radio. b. Advantages of diagonal communication: Diagonal communication has the following advantages: (1) It is a most direct method of communication. (2) It is a most selective method of communication. 3) It is one of the fastest methods of communication. (4) In critical situations, it would seem to be the most essential and logical type of communication. c. Disadvantages of diagonal communication: The major disadvantages of diagonal communication include the following: (1) It can destroy lines of authority and formal chains of command. (2) It can leave immediate superiors uninformed of what their subordinates are doing. (3) It can lead to conflicting orders and hence to further confusion. (4) It is usually verbal, and thus is untraceable if things go wrong.

Four basic characteristics of a successful strategy

Four basic characteristics of a successful strategy 2.1.1 What is Strategy? So, what is strategy? Or, better, what it is not? According to Grant (2005) strategy is not a detailed plan or program of instructions; it is a unifying theme that gives coherence and direction to the actions and decisions of an individual or an organization. Furthermore, there are four basic characteristics of a successful strategy: goals that are simple, consistent and long term; profound understanding of the competitive environment; objective appraisal of the resources; and, effective implementation. Other definitions of strategy include:  · the determination of the long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals (Chandler, 1962),  · the pattern of objectives, purposes, or goals and the major policies and plans for achieving these goals, stated in such a way as to define what business the company is in or is to be in and the kind of company it is to be (Andrews, 1971),  · the match an organization makes between its internal resources and skills à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and the opportunities and risks created by its external environment (Hofer and Schendel, 1978),  · the pattern or plan that integrates an organizations major goals, policies and action sequence into a cohesive whole (Quinn, 1980). To simplify things we could say that strategy is when a firm assesses its internal organization and external environment, sets its goals and objectives, and designs the action plan to accomplish them. 2.1.2 A Brief Presentation of some Strategic Concepts The concepts and theories of business strategy have their antecedents in military strategy. The term strategy derives from the Greek word strategia, meaning generalship, itself formed from stratos, meaning army and -ag, to lead. Another early contributor to the forming of the concept of strategy is the Chinese Sun Tzu (about 500 B.C.) with his classic piece of work The Art of War, which is regarded as the first thesis on strategy. In modern times, the field of business strategy has largely been shaped around a framework first conceived by Andrews (1971) in his classic book The Concept of Corporate Strategy. As weve seen above, Andrews saw strategy as the match between what a company can do on one hand (organizational strengths and weaknesses) within the universe of what it might do on the other hand (environmental opportunities and threats). This is how the famous concept of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) has emerged. This concept is examined further in the following chapter. Although the power of the SWOT framework was recognized from the outset, managers were given very few insights about how to assess either side of the equation systematically. The first important breakthrough came from Porter (1980) in his book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors where he introduced the concept of the five forces model. This model focuses on the external side of the SWOT strategic balancing act, helping firms to understand those forces in an industry that give rise to opportunities and threats. In this framework, strategy becomes a matter of choosing an appropriate industry and positioning the firm in that industry according to a generic strategy of either low cost or product differentiation. Again, this concept is examined further in the following chapter. Fig. 2.1(1) The Five Competitive Forces Porter These theories have been criticized mainly because they do not help particular firms to identify and leverage unique and therefore sustainable advantages. Furthermore, studies have shown that internal characteristics of particular firms within an industry can make a difference in terms of profit performance. Based on these experiences, a new perspective, known as the capabilities approaches, which is focused on the internal, organisational part of the SWOT equation, has emerged. Based on this theory, firms are exhorted to compete based on their unique or distinctive capabilities, competences and resources. These approaches assume that the roots of competitive advantage lie within the organization and that the adoption of new strategies is constrained by the current level of companys resources. In this framework, external environment received little (if any) attention. Finally, another approach which tries to bridge the two parts (internal organizational element and external environment) and fulfill the promise of Andrews framework is the resource based view. Like the capabilities approaches, the resource based view acknowledges the importance of company specific resources and competences, yet it does so in the context of the competitive environment. It sees capabilities and resources as the heart of a companys competitive position, subject to the interplay of three fundamental market forces: demand (does it meet customers needs and is it competitively superior?), scarcity (is it imitable or substitutable, and is it durable?) and appropriability (who owns the profits?). 2.1.3 Towards a Knowledge Strategy Model Strategic management models have traditionally defined the firms strategy in terms of its product / market positioning (the products it makes and the markets it serves). The resource based approach, however, prescribes that firms position themselves strategically, based on their resources and capabilities rather than on the products and services derived from those capabilities. Resources and capabilities, especially organizational skills and practices learned over time, can become highly unique to a particular firm and hard to imitate by others. Therefore, competitive advantage based on these resources and capabilities is potentially much more sustainable than that based on product and market positioning. Products and markets may come and go, but the firms capabilities are more enduring. Creating a strategy based on unique resources and capabilities provides a more long-term view of strategy than the traditional approach, and one, which is more robust in todays uncertain and dynamic competitive environment. In modern business, knowledge is being considered the most important strategic resource, and the ability to create and apply it the most important capability for building and sustaining competitive advantage. The firm that knows more about its customers, products, technologies, markets and their linkages, performs better. This view is leading to a further development in the resource based theory called the knowledge based view of the firm. The firm is seen primarily as a vehicle for creating, integrating, storing and applying knowledge. Firms embracing the knowledge based view of the world have many difficult questions to answer in formulating their knowledge strategy. If we update the original model of strategy to reflect todays knowledge intensive environment, knowledge strategy becomes the way in which the firm balances its knowledge resources and knowledge processing capabilities with the knowledge required to create its products for its markets in a manner superior to its com petitors. In essence, firms need to perform a knowledge based SWOT analysis. Identifying which knowledge is a unique and valuable resource, which knowledge processes represent unique and valuable capabilities, and how those resources and capabilities support the firms product and market positions, are the essential elements of a knowledge strategy. The firm must identify what it has to know for a given product / market position. Every firm requires some level of knowledge about its technology, markets, products, customers and industry merely to participate and hold its own in its industry. The strategic choices that companies make regarding these factors directly influence what the firm and its members must know to effectively compete. Furthermore, these choices all set the stage for the development of future knowledge through the processes of learning and innovation. Conversely, the firm, given what it knows, must identify the best product and market opportunities for exploiting that knowledge. The creation of unique, strategic knowledge takes time, forcing the firm to balance short and long-term strategic resources decisions. The firm must therefore determine whether its efforts are best focused on knowledge creation, exploitation, or both, and then balance its knowledge processing resources and efforts accordingly. Other critical issues in knowledge strategy include organizational learning (the ability of an organization to learn, accumulate knowledge from its experiences, and reapply that knowledge is itself a skill or competence that can provide strategic advantage), the competition (the firm must assess the knowledge resources and capabilities required by its industry merely to play the game, those required to be competitive and those required to be uniquely innovative) and how easily the firms knowledge can be imitated (on the one hand, knowledge must be made explicit and transferable to share it among the firm, while, on the other hand, once made explicit it is subject to being appropriated by other firms, reducing or eliminating its competitive value). 2.1.4 Knowledge Strategies It has become clear, especially during the last few years, that the term Knowledge Management (KM) has been applied to a very broad spectrum of activities designed to manage, exchange and create or enhance intellectual assets within an organization. In other words, there is no widespread agreement on what KM actually is. For example, information technology applications that are using the term knowledge management in their title range from the development of highly codified help desk systems to the provision of video conferencing to facilitate the exchange of ideas between people. The one fact that there does seem to be agreement on is that different situations require different KM strategies. In this section we will examine a number of proposed different KM strategies and consider how they can be classified. Then we will look into a range of different driving forces behind the strategies and propose how we can select a suitable knowledge strategy. The main difference between the various approaches in knowledge strategy is that they emphasize different aspects of KM: some focus on the knowledge (content), others on the business processes / areas and some on the end results. (A) Knowledge Matrix One of the most widely accepted and widely quoted approaches is that of the knowledge matrix of Nonaka Takeuchi (see Figure 1.3-2 in chapter 1.3.1). This matrix classifies knowledge as explicit or tacit, and as either individual or collective. Nonaka Takeuchi also propose corresponding knowledge processes that transform knowledge from one form to another: socialisation (from tacit to tacit, whereby an individual acquires tacit knowledge directly from others through shared experience, observation, imitation and so on); externalisation (from tacit to explicit, through articulation of tacit knowledge into explicit concepts); combination (from explicit to explicit, through a systematisation of concepts drawing on different bodies of explicit knowledge); and internalisation (from explicit to tacit, through a process of learning by doing and through a verbalisation and documentation of experiences). Nonaka Takeuchi model the process of organisational knowledge creation as a spiral in wh ich knowledge is amplified through these four modes of knowledge conversion. It is also considered that knowledge becomes crystallized within the organisation at higher levels moving from the individual through the group to organisational and even inter-organisational levels. (B) I-Space In another well-known application, Boisot proposes a model of knowledge asset development along similar lines to that of Nonaka and Takeuchi. In Boisots scheme, knowledge assets can be located within a three dimensional space (Information Space or I-Space) defined by three axes from uncodified to codified, from concrete to abstract and from undiffused to diffused. He then proposes a Social Learning Cycle (SLC) that uses the I-Space to model the dynamic flow of knowledge through a series of six phases: 1. Scanning: insights are gained from generally available (diffused) data 2. Codification Problem-Solving: problems are solved giving structure and coherence to these insights (knowledge becomes codified) 3. Abstraction: the newly codified insights are generalised to a wide range of situations (knowledge becomes more abstract) 4. Diffusion: the new insights are shared with a target population in a codified and abstract form (knowledge becomes diffused) 5. Absorption: the newly codified insights are applied to a variety of situations producing new learning experiences (knowledge is absorbed and produces learnt behaviour and so becomes uncodified, or tacit) 6. Impacting: abstract knowledge becomes embedded in concrete practices, for example in artefacts, rules or behaviour patterns (knowledge becomes concrete) Fig. 2.1(2). Boisots I-Space I In his model, Boisot develops an interesting application of the laws of thermodynamics. This thermodynamic analogy points to the elusive and dynamic nature of knowledge. It seems that what is happening is a cycle in which data is filtered to produce meaningful information and this information is then abstracted and codified to produce useful knowledge. As the knowledge is applied in diverse situations it produces new experiences in an uncodified form that produces the data for a new cycle of knowledge creation. (C) Wiig Model Moving on to the business process side, one of the most widely accepted KM models is that of Wiig and the APQC (American Productivity and Quality Center). Wiig identified six emerging KM strategies in a study of organisations considered to be leading the way in this area. The strategies reflect the different natures and strengths of the organisations involved:  · Knowledge Strategy as Business Strategy A comprehensive, enterprise-wide approach to KM, where knowledge is seen frequently as the product  · Intellectual Asset Management Strategy Focuses on assets already within the company that can be more fully exploited or enhanced  · Personal Knowledge Asset Responsibility Strategy Encourage and support individual employees to develop their skills and knowledge as well as share their knowledge with each other  · Knowledge Creation Strategy Emphasises the innovation and creation of new knowledge through RD. Adopted by market leaders who shape the future direction of their sector  · Knowledge Transfer Strategy Transfer of knowledge and best practices in order to improve operational quality and efficiency  · Customer-Focused Knowledge Strategy Aims to understand customers and their needs and so provide them with exactly what they want. (D) Day and Wendler of McKinsey Company Along the same lines, Day and Wendler of McKinsey Company, identified five knowledge strategies employed by large corporations:  · Developing and Transferring Best Practices Like the Knowledge Transfer Strategy identified by Wiig and the APQC above, this strategy focuses on identifying best practices within an organisation and spreading them across a dispersed network of locations  · Creating a new industry from embedded knowledge This approach is to recognise that an organisation may have knowledge, which it can exploit in new ways. In particular, it may have built up knowledge about its customers, which reveals a gap in the market for a new product  · Shaping Corporate Strategy around knowledge This strategy was identified from the experiences of Monsanto, which encompassed two very different business groups: a chemicals group and a life sciences group. The chemicals group was focused on best practice while the life sciences group was an innovation-based business. The knowledge strategies for these two groups were perceived to be so different that Monsanto decided to sell off the chemicals group and concentrate on the life sciences business. This is an interesting example of the tensions between two very different KM strategies  · Fostering and Commercialising Innovation Similar to the Knowledge Creation Strategy identified by Wiig and the APQC above, this strategy focuses on establishing a competitive position by increased technological innovation and reduced time to market  · Creating a standard by releasing proprietary knowledge The cited example is Netscape who responded to the rapid decline of its market share in the internet browser market by making its source code publicly available at no cost. The strategy is an example of the Intellectual Asset Management Strategy identified by Wiig and the APQC study. In this case, Netscape felt that it could capitalise on a key asset (its source code) by giving it away. In return, it hoped to establish its browser as a widely used standard (increased by the adaptation to new specialty areas) and gain indirectly, by securing its share of a complementary product, namely: server software. (E) Three Value Disciplines (Treacy and Wiersema) Moving to the area of strategies based on the end results, we could refer to Treacy and Wiersema who proposed three value disciplines, as a way to focus an organisations activities. In this model, successful organizations concentrate their efforts on a particular area and excel at it, rather than trying to be all things to all people and failing to excel at anything. The three areas are:  · Customer Intimacy  · Product Leadership  · Operational Excellence These value disciplines reflect the fact that value is determined as a trade-off between convenience, quality and price. It is the inherent tension between these three qualities of a product that makes it necessary for an organisation to focus on excelling at just one of them. There are a few organisations that have managed to become leaders in two disciplines, but they have done this by focusing on one area first before turning to a second one. At a simplistic level, there are three primary elements to any competitive business: the business itself, its product(s) and its customers. Each of these components represents the focus of attention for one of the value disciplines. The focus is on the customers and their needs and desires when pursuing Customer Intimacy; the focus is on the product(s) when pursuing Product Leadership; and the focus is on the organisation itself and its delivery processes, when pursuing Operational Excellence. Some organizations will concentrate on their relationship with their customers (to increase customer satisfaction and retention by better understanding the customers needs and preferences). Other organisations will focus on their products (constantly developing new ideas and getting them to market quickly). The third group of organisations focus primarily on themselves and their internal processes (sharing best practices between different units, reducing costs and improving efficiency). (F) Zacks Strategy Another approach to identifying what KM strategy to take is proposed by Zack. He proposes a framework which helps an organisation make an explicit connection between its competitive situation and a knowledge management strategy to help the organisation maintain or (re-) establish its competitive advantage. He makes it clear that while each organisation will find its own unique link between knowledge and strategy, any such competitive knowledge can be classified on a scale of innovation relative to the rest of the particular industry as: core, advanced or innovative:  · Core knowledge is a basic level of knowledge required by all members of a particular industry. It does not represent a competitive advantage, but is simply the knowledge needed to be able to function in that sector at all.  · Advanced knowledge gives an organisation a competitive edge. It is specific knowledge that differentiates an organisation from its competitors, either by knowing more than a competitor or by applying knowledge in different ways.  · Innovative knowledge is that which enables a company to be a market leader. It allows an organisation to change the way a sector works and represents a significant differentiating factor from other organisations. Having identified the organisations competitive knowledge position, Zacks approach is to use a SWOT analysis to identify the strategic gaps in an organisations knowledge. This allows the organisation to identify where it has knowledge which it can exploit and where it needs to develop knowledge to maintain or grow its competitive position. This is achieved by analysing the organisations knowledge position along two dimensions:  · Exploration vs. Exploitation This is the degree to which the organisation needs to increase its knowledge in a particular area vs. the opportunity it may have to leverage existing but under-exploited knowledge resources.  · Internal vs. External Knowledge This refers to whether the knowledge is primarily within the organisation or outside. Some organisations are more externally oriented, drawing on publications, universities, consultants, customers, etc. Others are more internally oriented, building up unique knowledge and experience, which is difficult for competitors to imitate. Putting these two dimensions together, Zack describes organisations which are more exploitative of internal knowledge as having a Conservative KM Strategy while those that are more innovative (exploring external knowledge) have a more Aggressive KM Strategy. However, he points out that a KM Strategy cannot be made without reference to competitors. Thus, some industries (where knowledge is changing more rapidly) tend to be characterized by more aggressive firms, while other industries are generally more conservative. Summary Given that the classifications by knowledge listed above (Nonaka Takeuchis knowledge matrix and Boisots I-Space model) focus on the process of knowledge transformation and that most real world processes operate on a continuum rather than a step transformation, it is perhaps not surprising to find that some researchers have suggested that explicit and tacit knowledge should be considered to be at the ends of a spectrum of knowledge types rather than being the only two categories on that spectrum. Beckman has suggested that implicit knowledge is an intermediate category of knowledge that is tacit in form, but is accessible through querying and discussion. Nickols proposes that Nonaka Takeuchis categories should be further broken down according to whether they focus on declarative or procedural knowledge. What is needed is a classification that proposes a spectrum of knowledge management approaches. If this spectrum can accommodate the various approaches suggested previously, then it can be considered to be sufficiently comprehensive to be useful. Derek Binney provides a framework, the KM Spectrum, to help organisations make sense of the large diversity of material appearing under the heading of KM, and to help them assess where they are in KM terms. His focus is on the KM activities that are being carried out, grouped into six categories:  · Transactional KM: Knowledge is embedded in technology  · Analytical KM: Knowledge is derived from external data sources, typically focussing on customer-related information  · Asset Management KM: Explicit management of knowledge assets (often created as a by-product of the business) which can be reused in different ways  · Process-based KM: The codification and improvement of business practice and the sharing of these improved processes within the organisation  · Developmental KM: Building up the capabilities of the organisations knowledge workers through training and staff development  · Innovation/creation KM: Fostering an environment, which promotes the creation of new knowledge, for example through R D and through forming teams of people from different disciplines. Binneys analysis is interesting because it reflects aspects of both the knowledge-centred classification of KM and the business perspectives classification of KM. In terms of business perspectives, Binneys categories reflect activities that support particular perspectives; for example, Asset Management KM matches Wiigs intellectual asset management strategy, while Innovation and Creation KM reflects Treacy Wiersemas product leadership strategy. Yet, Binneys categories also form a progression from the management of explicit knowledge at one end to tacit knowledge at the other. So, for example, Transactional KM involves codifying knowledge and embedding it in applications such as Help Desk Systems or Case Based Reasoning systems, while Innovation and Creation KM focuses on facilitating knowledge workers sharing and creating new knowledge which rests in a tacit form in their heads. For each element of the spectrum, Binney also lists a set of enabling technologies used to implement those kinds of KM Applications. This provides an alternative way to identify KM activity already being undertaken within an organisation, even if not previously perceived in KM terms (Table 1). Table 1 Enabling technologies mapped to the KM Spectrum (Binney, 2001) Transactional Analytical Asset Management Process Developmental Innovation Creation Expert Systems Cognitive Technologies Semantic Networks Rule-based Expert Systems Probability Networks Rule Induction Decision Trees Geospatial Information Systems Intelligent Agents Web Crawlers Relational and Object DBMS Neural Computing Push Technologies Data Analysis and Reporting Tools Document Management Tools Search Engines Knowledge Maps Library Systems Workflow Management Process Modeling Tools Finally, we should note that the latest developments in the field suggest that the KM strategy in a modern, rapidly changing business environment should be dynamic, meaning it should change to follow the developments in the way the business functions or the competition is progressing in the industry. Scholars even go on to propose different KM strategies for different departments of the same organization.

Dame Lyonet and Dame Lyonesse :: Morte Darthur Lyonet Lyonesse Essays

Dame Lyonet and Dame Lyonesse Dame Lyonet was first mentioned in the book, Le Morte Darthur, which has many tales about the Arthurian time. Dame Lyonet was mentioned in the tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney. In this tale Lyonet was sent to find a noble knight to rescue her sister from the Red Knight of the Red Launds.When she came to King Arthur’s court to ask of such a knight to aid her, a man to the name of Sir Beaumains asked to be the one to rescue the sister of Lyonet. At this point of the tale Sir Beaumains was considered to be not as noble as Lyonet had wanted. Beaumains wouldn’t leave her on her journey back to her sister. Lyonet kept referring to Beaumains as a kitchen knave from King Arthur’s court and would give him no respect as a knight. Throughout the journey Beaumains would not reveal his true identity and Lyonet kept wishing him gone. She would tell all of the knights that they came across in their journey what kind of man he was and taunt them to get them to fight. Every time Beaumains would win. Finally Beumains overcame the Red knight of the Red Launds and saved Lyonet’s sister, Dame Lyonesse. Once Lyonesse was freed she fell madly in love w ith Beaumains and wanted to be with him. Everytime Lyonesse would sneak into the room to â€Å"be with† Beaumains Lyonet would send a knight into the room and to do great harm to Beaumains so that they could not do the things they were trying to do. Lyonet never trusted Beaumains to be a truly noble knight until his name was revealed and his lineage was known. This tale reveals much about who Lyonet was and what she did. Lyonet was a strong-willed woman who went through great deal to save her sister from not only the Red Knight but also from doing things with Beaumains before they were married. She wasn’t very trusting with people she came across and did not believe them to be what they said. Although Beaumains tried in many ways to prove himself it took many trials to prove he was a noble knight to Lyonet. She had strong feelings about what she wanted from men, herself and for her sister. She settled for nothing but the best. Lyonet was know as the woman who called Sir Gareth the kitchen knave while he was doing her great honor by following her to save her sister.

Battle of the Woods: Nollywood Versus Hollywood

The Battle of the Woods: Hollywood and Nollywood Cinema of the United States has played an undeniable role in the transmission and interpretation of many values that we hold today. We perceive real life situations based on what Hollywood has taught us. Some ninety years after the first huge success of American cinema, â€Å"The Great Train robbery† was released, we were introduced to a new brand of films. The cult classic â€Å"Living in Bondage† was distributed. This low- budget film produced in Onitsha, Nigeria set the scene for what would become an explosion. So impressed were the filmmakers and actors by their work, they coined the term Nollywood- the Nigerian Hollywood. The different environments and practices have resulted in obvious differences and a few similarities between Hollywood and Nollywood. The most noticeable characteristic of motion pictures produced in North America is their potential cost. In Hollywood today, a blockbuster that grosses $70 million could be considered a flop. Most major movies have production expenses that routinely top the $100 million mark. According to the Variety box office revenue chart, the total revenue for the U. S. box office in 2006 was $9. 49 billion. Spiderman 3 cost over $ 250 million to produce, and Titanic earned a remarkable $1,848,813,795 worldwide. With these huge costs, the number of Hollywood movies produced yearly is relatively low. On the average, 603 movies are released every year. In contrast, the average Nollywood film costs between N2,040,000 and N2,760,000 ( $17,000- $23,000) to produce. Most Nollywood movies are produced in rented-out hotels, homes, offices and not complex studios. With this, filmmakers have lower start-up and maintenance costs. Usofia in London cost a modest N 2. million to produce and distribute. These relatively low costs act as an incentive for many to produce movies. According to Hala Gorani and Jeff Koinange, the Nollywood industry churns out approximately 200 videos for the home video market every month. Furthermore, differences exist in the marketing and distribution of films in the two industries. Hollywood movies employ creative and bold methods to market their movies. A good deal of promotion and advertising is targeted to getting people into theatres. Media blitzes are launched to tout the movies weeks before its release. Posters on buses, billboards, designed T-shirts, websites are used to promote Hollywood films. These films are then distributed to a diverse audience. Unless they are extremely unsuccessful, Hollywood movies are always first shown in cinemas across the world, before they are released on DVD. Nollywood films, on the other hand, do not put in a lot of money and effort on the marketing of their films. Other than the movie posters which are usually seen at the selling point of the films, not much advertising is employed. As all Nollywood films go straight to DVD and VCD discs, the industry thrives on direct-to-video marketing. As many as thirty new titles are delivered to Nigerian stores and market stalls every week. Producers rely on the fact that with this outpour of releases, their movies would most certainly be picked up among the crowd; hence, employing further marketing practices is unnecessary. Currently, the available cinemas in Nigeria do not exhibit any Nollywood movies. The costs, methods of distribution, and themes of Hollywood and Nollywood films reflect strongly their target audiences; how the target audience affects the production of a film and how the production of a movie is designed to capture a specific target audience. Hollywood movies are designed to capture a specific audience. Critics have proposed that they use beautiful actresses and hunky actors to capture that audience – the teenage population of the entire world. Hip, youthful plots drive the teenagers- the ones with the willingness and ability to spend money for entertainment purposes- to the cinemas. Even the movies with more elements of drama, and less action are still made to appeal to these teenagers. Halle Berry was able to win an Academy Award as well as completely amaze millions of boys who had just hit puberty for her racy role in Monster’s Ball. The lack of detail that is characteristic of a Nollywood film from its conception to the time it is released on video is a cause to the effect that the target audience of the movies is generally the lower class and educated Nigerians. This stagnant market would seem to be what Nigerian movie producers want, as it is much easier to please this kind of consumers than a 16 year old geek that knows the meaning of CGI. Famous Nigerian filmmaker Chico Ejiro boasts that he can make a movie in three days. All he has to do is make a movie with the same plot as thousands before it albeit with different actors, put a title on it, and distribute it. Nigerians will always buy it. His target audience therefore does not influence his movies because they are always there; they will always buy and this gives him no incentive for creativity. However, with all the differences between the two industries, similarities do exist. Just like Hollywood, the primary purpose of Nollywood films is to entertain viewers. In their quest to entertain, the two industries may employ different procedures, but Hollywood and Nollywood filmmakers both share the burning desire to refresh the minds of audiences. The two industries can both be credited for producing many untouchable stars from mere mortals. Marilyn Monroe will be worshipped till the end of time, and Richard Mofe Damijo would forever be the ultimate sex icon in the minds of all Nigerian women above 18. King Joe Okechukwu would always be the pastor who speaks in tongues, and John Wayne is our idol in a cowboy hat that we will tell our children about.

Historical Investigation Essay

â€Å"Assess the impact of the period from 1969 – 1982 on the IRA/Sinn Fein and their development into a significant political force in Northern Ireland† â€Å"Assess the impact of the period from 1969 – 1982 on the IRA/Sinn Fein and their development into a significant political force in Northern Ireland† During the period from 1969-1982 both the IRA and Sinn Fein underwent significant change. Sinn Fein moved from a fringe role, in the nationalist movement of Northern Ireland, to a dominant political position. During a time of intense violence in the region an internal discussion was taking place, deliberating on the value of armed resistance versus political engagement. The ideals that rose out of this transformed the movement and laid the basis for the central role it would play in the eventual Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The re-emergence of the nationalist movement led to the rise and resurrection of groups such as the IRA. Naturally this caused much tension, and incidences of violence began to rise. Acts of exceptional protest showed the incomparable power of politics over violence and led to international recognition of the issue. Ultimately Sinn Fein developed into one of the most powerful political forces in Northern Ireland. After years in the dark the nationalist movement began to rapidly gain momentum when the Belfast Troubles began in 1969. The IRA had been deeply divided since 1921 when Dail Eireann chose to ratify the Anglo- Irish treaty. The treaty established the autonomous Irish Free State whilst the province of Ulster remained under the direct control of the United Kingdom. Despite the fact that IRA member Michael Collins had played a role in writing the treaty there was still a major difference of opinion between members of the IRA.1 They were divided between those who were for the establishment of the Free State and those who believed it was illegitimate and illegal. The Split over the treaty led to the Irish Civil War from 1922-3. Many of the opposing leaders had been close friends and comrades during the Irish War of Independence. The civil war split the IRA and this rift would continue to haunt Irish politics for many years to come. In the 1960’s the IRA was further marginalised as it came under the influence of left wing thinkers. This caused a split between the factions of the IRA based in Dublin and Belfast.2 In 1969 the wounds of old were once stirred again when Northern Ireland was rocked by bloody sectarian rioting. The bloodiest rioting was in Belfast where seven people were killed and hundreds injured.3 Violence escalated sharply after these events and new paramilitary groups came into existence on either side of the conflict. The Provisional IRA received an upsurge in membership. It was from here that ‘The Troubles,’ one of the most infamous periods in Irish history began. The violence was characterised by armed campaigns of paramilitary groups. Conflict hit the streets and many innocent people were often attacked. Alongside the violence there was deadlock between the major political parties of Northern Ireland over how the province would be administered and governed. 1972 saw an explosion of political violence in Northern Ireland in which many people lost their lives. The nationalist community saw the Provisional IRA as their defenders, who began an armed campaign in reaction to loyalist provoked violence. During this period the party Sinn Fein had no interest in electoral politics.4 They voiced the need for military opposition to British rule in Northern Ireland. They gained control of the Republican movement and began to focus on flooding nationalist propaganda throughout Northern Ireland. Membership began to skyrocket as anti-British sentiment ran rife. The Republican political party Sinn Fein built the foundations for a movement which in ten years would expand to have branches in every town in Ireland. Atrocities by loyalists and British forces themselves were used to justify the IRA as a movement and inspired many to stand up and fight for the cause they all believed in. On 30 January 19725 in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland border, perhaps one of the largest single atrocities of the ‘Troubles’ period occurred. During a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the bogside area of the city members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute regiment opened fire on many unarmed protestors. Twenty seven people are known to have been shot and fourteen of those were killed with at least five of the latter confirmed as being shot in the back. 6 Witnesses, including bystanders and British journalists, testify that all those shot appeared to be unarmed. Many individual atrocities occurred that day witnessed by hundreds of people. Eye witness Michael McCallion testified that â€Å"A fellow came out with a white flag, no sooner had he done this when the middle of three British soldiers pulled the trigger and shot him through the head†¦.I have witnessed this as God is my judge and I say that it was cold blooded murder.†7 Testimonies such as this confirm the extreme acts of violence the British committed unnecessarily on that day. One paratrooper who gave evidence testified that they were told by an officer to expect a gunfight and â€Å"we want some kills.†8 The reason for the uproar over such killings was the British soldiers were essentially not an occupying force but a measure of peace between nationalist and loyalist paramilitary groups. As Catholic Bishop of Derry Edward Daly commented â€Å"What really made Bloody Sunday so obscene was the fact that afterwards at the highest level British justice justified it.†9 Acts such as this by official British forces reaffirmed the belief of many that the British Government was still the real enemy and behind the problems that continued in Northern Ireland. This justified the cause of the nationalist movement and subsequently the IRA and Sinn Fein as well. Both organisations had now developed a strong following throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland. Whilst such occurrences did cause much suffering and pain they proved useful to both the IRA and Sinn Fein in acquiring widespread support for the movement. Sinn Fein and the IRA were not officially linked but both strived for the same goal. The Provisional Irish Republican Army was a paramilitary organisation that considered itself a direct continuation of the IRA that had fought in the Irish war of Independence.10 Its stated objective was to end British rule in Ireland and withdraw Northern Irelands status as part of the United Kingdom. The Provisionals advocated for armed defence of Catholic communities in the north and an offensive campaign to end British rule. As the violence in Northern Ireland steadily increased the IRA began to call for a more aggressive campaign against British loyalists. Sinn Fein was a political party of the Republican movement. It was formed in 1970 but has traces back to the original party founded in 1905.11 The party is believed to be directly associated with the IRA. Both Sinn Fein and the IRA played different but converging roles in the war for liberation. Whilst the movements were not officially linked it was widely thought that they were different faces of the same movement. In 2005 the British Government stated â€Å"We had always said all the way through that we believed the IRA and Sinn Fein were inextricably linked and that had obvious implications at leadership level.†12 Throughout the early seventies there was much internal argument between factions of the IRA and Sinn Fein over whether their movement’s primary role should chiefly military or political, although both groups viewed Britain as a colonial occupier and therefore viewed the political process as illegal. Until 1973 Sinn Fein had little interest in politics as the party was still deemed illegal by the British Government. Political activity began in 1973 when Sinn Fein opened the Republican press centre on Falls Road. In 1973 the first attempt at negotiations to resolve the situation led to the Sunningdale Agreement, which devised a power sharing system in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Although this did no include Sinn Fein and quickly collapsed under pressure from loyalist strikes.13 In May 1974 British secretary of State Merlyn Rees legalised Sinn Fein as a political party.14 This was perhaps the beginning of tacit recognition by the British Government that negotiations were only meaningful if they were directly with the IRA. Whilst local politicians such as John Hume, of the Nationalist Party, were respected they did not command enough power to have any effect. Secret meetings between Provisional IRA leaders Ruairi O’Bradaigh and Billy McKee with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Merlyn Rees resulted in a ceasefire which began in February 1975.15 The truce proved to be disastrous for the IRA; leading to infiltration by many British informers into their ranks. After a build up of tensions and a series of sectarian killings the ceasefire broke down in January 1976.16 It was clear that the original aims of the IRA leadership for a quick military victory were receding. It was acts of violence by British authorities that justified the military side of the movement and ensured tensions would continue for years to come. As Sinn Fein began to move into the political process so did many former revolutionaries and IRA members. One such person was Gerry Adams; after being in prison for alleged IRA membership17 he turned himself in a new direction a moved towards the political process. In 1978 he was elected as the vice president of Sinn Fein. This most likely came as a result of the realisation by many senior figures that it was becoming more and more unlikely that a military victory could be achieved. Whilst significant events such as Bloody Sunday lead to anti-British sentiment to sky rocket many turned away from violence and embraced the political system. Protests by a number of imprisoned IRA members in Long Kesh gaol showed the power of political tactics, leading to the dominance of Sinn Fein as a political force. The 1981 hunger strike was the climax of a five year protest by Republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest originally began in 197618 when the British Government removed its special category status for convicted paramilitary prisoners. This status had provided them with Prisoner of War privileges as specified in the Geneva Convention.19 Prisoners did not have to wear prison uniforms, do prison work and were allowed to be housed within their own paramilitary factions. They were also entitled to receive extra food parcels and have extra visits. When these rights were removed by the British Government, as recommended by the Gardiner Committee20, the prisoners began a protest to gain them back. It started with a blanket protest in which prisoners refused to wear uniforms but instead wrapped themselves in prison blan kets; they stated that they were not criminals but political prisoners. In 197821 the dispute escalated into a dirty protest in which prisoners refused to wash and covered their cell walls with excrement. In 1980 the first hunger strike took place but to no avail ending after 53 days.22 The second strike in 1981 is perhaps one of the best know instances of protest throughout the campaign. The strike was lead by former IRA Officer Commanding in the prison, Bobby Sands.23 At the beginning of the strike there was little progress and it didn’t receive much outside support. But after five days the strike received a much needed boost; the Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone died and a by-election was called to appoint his replacement. It was decided that Bobby Sands would stand against the Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West.24 On 9 April 1981 Sands won a narrow victory and was elected to the British House of Commons.25 The victory attracted worldwide attention and thousands of media personnel descended on Belfast. On the six ty sixth day of the hunger strikes, May 5, Sands died causing riots across Northern Ireland. One hundred thousand people lined the route of his funeral a few days later.26 In the weeks after Sands death three more hunger strikers died,27 and another by-election had to be held for the seat of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Due to the fact that the British Government had rushed through the Representation of the People Act,28 which meant prisoners serving more than one year could not run for parliament, so Sands’ election agent Owen Carron had to run instead. He claimed a similar victory gaining a larger percentage of the votes. The success of hunger strike created a firm platform for Irish republicanism and paved the way for the formal entry of Sinn Fein into electoral politics the following year. It was also around this period that the British Government began reforming its policies in relation to the IRA and Sinn Fein. They now viewed Sinn Fein as a legitimate political movement who would be included in official negotiations. The achievements of the hunger strikers proved the power of political activism as opposed to violence; they also exposed the falseness of the British Governments claim that the Republican movement had no support. The events of 1969-82 transformed the Republican movement from a violence orientated force to a significant political force. As Sinn Fein began to grow as a political force the IRA slowly, and with considerable internal difficulties, changed its ways. This eventually paved the way for an official ceasefire in 1994. Their agreement to decommission their weapons meant that Sinn Fein was allowed to come to the negotiation table and play a significant role in the Good Friday agreement of 1998. That agreement resulted in a devolved power sharing structure of self government for Northern Ireland, whilst it still remained within the United Kingdom.29 In 2007 Martin McGuiness of Sinn Fein was appointed deputy first minister and held equal power alongside Ian Paisely of the DUP in the Northern Ireland Assembly Government.30 From the split in the nationalist movement in 1969 to its reemergence throughout the seventies, alongside the IRA, there was much change. Events such as Bloody Sunday increased the military overtone of the movement but ultimately peaceful political power prevailed. Acts such as the 1981 hunger strike proved the power of political protest as compared to violence. Ultimately Sinn Fein grew into a legitimate political party and as of 2009 they became the largest party in Northern Ireland following European Parliamentary elections.31 _______________________________________________________ Bibliography Literary Sources English, Richard (2003), Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, Pan Books, Stuttgart, Germany ________________________________________________________________________ Geraghty, Tony (2000), The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Maryland, USA ________________________________________________________________________ Hastings, Max (1970), Ulster 1969 – The Fight for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland, Victor Gollancz LTD, London, United Kingdom ________________________________________________________________________ McEvoy, Kieran (2001), Paramilitary Imprisonment in Northern Ireland: Resistance, Management, and Release, Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom ________________________________________________________________________ Moloney, Ed (2002), A Secret History of the IRA, Penguin Books, New Jersey, USA ________________________________________________________________________ Mullan, Don (1997), Eyewitness Bloody Sunday – The Truth, Wolfhound Press, Dublin, Ireland ________________________________________________________________________ O’Brien, Brendan (1995), the Long War, the IRA and Sinn Fein, Syracuse University Press, New York, USA ________________________________________________________________________ Electronic Sources BBC (2009), on this day – 9 Decmeber1973 (online), BBC, London, United Kingdom. Available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/9/newsid_2536000/2536767.stm (Accessed 26 July 2009) ________________________________________________________________________ BBC (2009), Profile: Martin McGuinness (online), BBC, London, United Kingdom. Available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/1303355.stm (Accessed 29 July 2009) ________________________________________________________________________ CAIN Web Service (2009), A chronology of the conflict (online), University of Ulster, Belfast, United Kingdom. Available from http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch76.htm (Accessed 27 July 2009) ________________________________________________________________________ Lord Gardiner (1975), Report of a Committee to consider, in the context of civil liberties and human rights, measures to deal with terrorism in Northern Ireland – Extract (online), University of Ulster, Belfast, United Kingdom. Available from http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/gardiner.htm#1 (Accessed July 28 2009) ________________________________________________________________________ McClean, Raymond, The Road to Bloody Sunday – Extracts (online), University of Ulster, Belfast, United Kingdom. Available from http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/bsunday/mcclean.htm (Accessed 28 July 2009) ________________________________________________________________________ National Archives of Ireland (no date), Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Series: text of the Anglo-Irish Treaty (online), Irish Government, Dublin, Ireland, Available from http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/anglo_irish/dfaexhib2.html (Accessed 1 August 2009) ________________________________________________________________________ Prime Ministers Office (2005), Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Anti Terror Law, President Bush/EU, Foreign Doctors in NHS, Hunting and Northern Ireland (online), British Government, London, United Kingdom, Available from http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page7148 (Accessed 29 July 20090 ________________________________________________________________________ Sinn Fein Official Website (2009), History made – Sinn Fein is now the largest party in the six counties (online), Belfast, United Kingdom, Available from http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/16580 (Accessed 29 July 2009) ________________________________________________________________________ University College Cork (2009), Multitext project in Irish History – Movements for Political and Social Reform, 1870 – 1914 (online), University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, Available from http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Ireland_politics__administration_1870-1914#12TheFirstSinnFeacuteinParty> (Accessed 25 July 2009) ________________________________________________________________________ 1 National Archives of Ireland, Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Series: text of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, n.d, (1 August 2009) 2 Moloney, Ed (2002), A Secret History of the IRA, Penguin Books. p. 246 3 English, Richard (2003), Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, Pan Books. p. 136 4 O’Brien, Brendan, the Long War, the IRA and Sinn Fein (1995) 5 Moloney, Ed, A Secret History of the IRA. p. 80 6 McClean, Raymond, The Road to Bloody Sunday – Extracts, 1997, < http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/bsunday/mcclean.htm> (28 July 2009) 7 Mullan, Don, Eyewitness Bloody Sunday – The Truth, Wolfhound Press 8 Geraghty, Tony, The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence, unknown p. 65 9 Mullan, Don, Eyewitness Bloody Sunday – The Truth 10 Moloney, Ed, A Secret History of the IRA. p. 432 11 University College Cork, Multitext project in Irish History – Movements for Political and Social Reform, 1870 – 1914, 2009, < http://multitext.ucc.ie/d/Ireland_politics__administration_1870-1914#12TheFirstSinnFeacuteinParty> (25 July 2009) 12 Prime Ministers Office, Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Anti Terror Law, President Bush/EU, Foreign Doctors in NHS, Hunting and Northern Ireland, 21 February 2005, < http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page7148> 13 BBC, On this day – 9 Decmeber1973, 2009, < http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/9/newsid_2536000/2536767.stm> (26 July 2009) 14 Moloney, Ed, A Secret History of the IRA 15 Moloney, Ed, A Secret History of the IRA 16 English, Richard, Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, p. 136 17 Moloney, Ed, A Secret History of the IRA p. 140. 18 McClean, Raymond, The Road to Bloody Sunday – Extracts 19 McEvoy, Kieran, Paramilitary Imprisonment in Northern Ireland: Resistance, Management, and Release, Oxford University Press 20 Lord Gardiner, Report of a Committee to consider, in the context of civil liberties and human rights, measures to deal with terrorism in Northern Ireland – Extract, 1975, < http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/gardiner.htm#1> (July 28 2009) 21 CAIN Web Service, A chronology of the conflict, 2009, < http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch76.htm> (27 July 2009) 22 CAIN Web Service, A chronology of the conflict 23 English, Richard, Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA p. 196 24 Moloney, Ed, A Secret History of the IRA p. 211 25 CAIN Web Service, A chronology of the conflict 26 CAIN Web Service, A chronology of the conflict 27 CAIN Web Service, A chronology of the conflict 28 CAIN Web Service, A chronology of the conflict 29 CAIN Web Service, A chronology of the conflict 30 BBC, Profile: Martin McGuinness, 2009, < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/1303355.stm> (29 July 2009) 31 Sinn Fein Online, History made – Sinn Fein is now the largest party in the six counties, 2009, < http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/16580> (29 July 2009)